Minneapolis, MN
ICE detains 5-year-old. JD Vance in Minneapolis. Live updates
ICE agent ‘looking for kid’ walks into restaurant with gun drawn
An ICE agent walked into a Thai restaurant in Minnesota with his gun drawn. USA TODAY reached out to DHS for a statement.
A public school superintendent in Minnesota said federal immigration agents have detained four students over the last two weeks, including a 5-year-old who was allegedly “used as bait.”
Zena Stenvik, the superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, said 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were detained in their driveway as they returned from school on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
Stenvik said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents refused to allow the boy to stay with an adult who lived in the house and instead told the boy to knock on his front door “to see if anyone else was home – essentially using a 5-year-old as bait.”
Liam and his father were taken by immigration agents and brought toa detention facility in Texas, Stenvik said, adding that they had active asylum cases and did not have deportation orders.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that ICE conducted a “targeted operation” to detain Liam’s father, writing “ICE did NOT target a child.”
The incident is among the latest interactions between civilians and immigration agents fueling outrage over the aggressive enforcement operations in Minnesota following the deadly shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent on Jan. 7.
Vice President JD Vance will travel to Minneapolis on Thursday where he will meet with federal agents amid intensifying legal battles and protests over the ongoing immigration raids.
A White House official said Vance will meet with ICE officers, deliver remarks praising their work and criticize Minneapolis’ “sanctuary” policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
As the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts continue to roil Minneapolis, Vice President JD Vance said he hopes his presence in the city Thursday will calm things down.
“Certainly one of my goals is to calm the tensions, to talk to people, to try to understand what we can do better,” Vance said during a speech in Toledo, Ohio, before flying to Minnesota.
At the same time, Vance blasted local officials for not cooperating with federal immigration authorities and blamed the lack of cooperation for “chaos” in the city. The vice president said he also wants to send a message to law enforcement “that we stand with them and we’re not going to abandon them.”
“We’re not going to do what the last administration did,” Vance continued. “Which is throw them under the bus to appease a bunch of left-wing radicals.”
–Zac Anderson
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said federal agents arrested two people involved in a protest that interrupted Sunday service at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Bondi identified those arrested as Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen but did not describe any alleged charges. “More to come,” Bondi said on X. “WE WILL PROTECT OUR HOUSES OF WORSHIP.”
A group of protestors entered Cities Church on Jan. 18, alleging that Pastor David Easterwood serves as the ICE St. Paul Field Office acting director. Videos show dozens of protesters changing “Renee Good,” and “don’t shoot,” as some verbally confronted churchgoers.
Anti-ICE protesters emerge during Minnesota church service
Anti-ICE protesters emerge during a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The DOJ launched an investigation into the protest as a potential violation of the FACE Act, a federal law that prohibits the use of force, threats or physical obstruction to block people from reproductive health care or access to religious worship under the First Amendment right to religious freedom.
A federal appeals court on Jan. 21 paused a lower court’s order that had ordered federal immigration agents in Minnesota not to use “intimidation tactics” against peaceful protesters.
The move by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a win to the Trump administration, which had vowed to appeal the lower court’s order that set up guardrails around the behavior of federal agents.
In the lower-court order, U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez said agents appeared to have engaged in “chilling conduct” and “intimidation tactics.” She noted actions such as the “drawing and pointing of weapons,” the “use of pepper spray and other non-lethal munitions” and “actual and threatened arrest and detainment of protesters and observers.”
Organizers in Minneapolis asked people to call out of work, skip school and refrain from buying anything as part of a protest against the ongoing immigration operations.
“Faith leaders, business owners, workers, and concerned Minnesotans have called for a statewide day of public mourning and pause through ‘No Work, No School and No Shopping’ and a massive, peaceful march in downtown Minneapolis that afternoon,” said a news release about the demonstration scheduled for Friday, Jan. 23.
Over the last two weeks, students at schools across Minnesota have held walkouts in protest of the immigration operation and Renee Good’s killing.
Minneapolis, MN
Man dead, 2 others hurt in overnight shooting in Minneapolis
Police say two people were hurt and one other man died.
A homicide investigation is underway in Minneapolis after a shooting early Friday morning killed one man and hurt two others.
Minneapolis police were called to the area of East Franklin Avenue and Chicago Avenue at around 12:30 a.m.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS cameras caught more than 65 evidence markers scattered across the ground in the area and shattered glass at a bus shelter. Some nearby businesses also appeared to have some damage.
Minneapolis police are still working to determine what led up to the shooting and who was involved but investigators say first responders found the three men suffering from gunshot wounds.
One injured man is in his 40s, the other in his 50s, police say. Both were taken to a hospital by ambulance.
The third man died at the scene. His name and age haven’t yet been publicly released.
Police say early information suggests the men were on a sidewalk when at least one person opened fire, then fled in a vehicle.
So far, no arrests have been made.
Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call police at 612-673-5845 to leave a voicemail or email policetips@minneapolismn.gov.
“This is a tragic and deeply disturbing act of violence that has taken a life, and left others seriously injured,” MPD Chief Brian O’Hara said. “This kind of violence is unacceptable, and we are committed to identifying those responsible and holding them accountable.”
Minneapolis police investigating alleyway shooting near East Franklin Avenue
It comes less than 30 hours after another serious shooting along East Franklin Avenue, just a half-mile west of Friday’s scene. That incident left a man hospitalized with a potentially life-threatening gunshot wound. No arrests have been announced in that case either.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS is still working to learn more about this shooting. Stay with KSTP-TV for the latest updates on air and on the KSTP app.
Minneapolis, MN
A Minneapolis woman recounts death of Alex Pretti as lawyers eye a class action lawsuit
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis woman who confronted federal immigration officers alongside Alex Pretti in January was among a group of potential litigants who spoke out Thursday about alleged excessive force against people protesting or monitoring the enforcement surge in Minnesota.
Georgia Savageford, who introduced herself as Wynnie at a news conference, said she was inside an officer’s vehicle when she saw federal agents shoot Pretti.
“That day has changed me forever,” she said. “The trauma will haunt me for the rest of my life, and I will never be the same.”
Savageford said she had been legally observing the actions of federal officers in Minneapolis ever since the shooting death of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7. She said she was doing so again on the morning of Jan. 24 when an agent pushed her twice and caused her to fall.
“As I was going down, three agents proceeded to tackle me and drag me face-down into the middle of the street. They knelt on my back, twisted my arms and my legs to the ground, and handcuffed me. The cuffs were so tight I lost feeling in my hands, which resulted in temporary nerve damage,” she recounted.
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond Thursday to emails seeking comment. Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for access to evidence they say they need to independently investigate the killings.
Savageford said Pretti recorded video of her arrest and yelled at agents to leave her alone.
She said the officers put her in the back of a vehicle, from which she saw agents shoot and kill Pretti on the other side of the street.
“At that moment, I thought I was going to die too. I pleaded with the agents to understand why another life was taken, and to not take mine,” she said.
She added that they told her to shut up and to stop being hysterical. She said they then took her to an ICE holding facility where she was held for 12 hours in a cold cell without ready access to food, water or the bathroom until she was released without being charged.
“I did not know him, but I knew he had my back,” she said of Pretti. “I know the kind of heart he had. One that loves and protects without limits.”
Savageford shared her story at a news conference where civil rights attorney John Burris, of Oakland, California, and other lawyers laid out how they’re paving the way for potential class-action lawsuits over alleged excessive force used against protesters and monitors.
Burris, who specializes in police misconduct, helped win an $11 million settlement against the Oakland Police Department in 2003, and helped win a civil jury verdict of $3.8 million for the late motorist Rodney King, who was beaten by Los Angeles police officers in 1991.
He said he and his colleagues have filed complaints with federal agencies involved in the Minnesota enforcement surge on behalf of 10 people, including Savageford, as the first step in a process that’s likely to lead to a larger class-action lawsuit.
“We have many others that are under investigation that have not completed the process. But I thought it was important for us to start this process now. Put the government on notice that we’re here,” Burris said.
Minneapolis, MN
Boy who shielded classmate during school shooting receives Medal of Honor
WASHINGTON (TNND) — A fifth grader from Minneapolis received the Citizen Honor Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
Victor Greenawalt jumped in front of his friend during a mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.
Weston Halsne told local station KARE 11 that Greenawalt saved his life.
“It was really scary,” Halsne told KARE 11. “My friend Victor, like, saved me, though. Because he laid on top of me. But he got hit.”
Two students were killed and several were injured after a shooter opened fire through the windows of the church last year. The shooter died on the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Congressional Medal Society said in a statement that Greenawalt showed “extraordinary bravery far beyond his years.”
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – SEPTEMBER 3: Flowers line a pathway to Annunciation Catholic Church as U.S. Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance visit to pay their respects to victims of the shooting there on September 3, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The shooting left two students dead and many more wounded. (Photo by Alex Wroblewski-Pool/Getty Images)
“Instinctively, Victor protected a classmate with his own body, directly saving their life during the attack,” the society said in a written statement. “His courage and selflessness became a powerful symbol of hope and humanity for a community in crisis.”
Greenawalt was hospitalized following the shooting, according to a verified GoFundMe page. His sister was also injured.
He flew to Washington with his family on Wednesday to accept the award.
Greeenawalt met with Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., while on Capitol Hill. The ceremony also included a wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery.
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He received the Young Hero award, which honors individuals age 17 or younger for their courage.
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